3.5 Stars!

The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely, is a relationship of convenience romance with two very unlikely characters. The plot is good, however, I found the pace to be a bit slow during the first half of the novel. This book may be read as a standalone.

April Hamilton paints humans for a living. She is an up and comer in the entertainment business and her next project should put her on the A-list. She loves her family very much, but they are quite traditional when it comes to ways to earn a living. Body painting is something her parents do not quite understand, and furthermore, they are not fans of her residing in New York City. Since her parents want her to find a guy and settle down near them in the suburbs, they plan on setting her up on a few dates while she is in town attending the family's annual reunion. April has no desire to date or settle down, so she hires Theo Banks to be her boyfriend for the reunion weekend, therefore getting her family off her back.

Theo is a good-looking and kindhearted man that will do whatever is necessary to pay down his older brother's debts. He is a bartender and an actor, and he hires himself out via Craigslist to earn extra cash. Despite his troubled past, Theo is a go-getter. The money he earns as April's boyfriend will really help make a dent in his financial situation. Theo has done the boyfriend-for-hire gig many times, so when he finds himself falling for April, he is a bit confused. April is falling for him simultaneously.

April and Theo are well-defined characters and I enjoyed getting to know them. They are hot couple, both in and out of the bedroom. Overall, a solid read.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Lauren Blakely, Lauren Blakely, Lauren Blakely...I've got to remember this name! I loved this book so much I didn't want it to end. Didn't want to lose my new friends April and Theo. What a great relationship they have...even though it's only pretend and for the sole purpose of getting April's family to stop trying to set her up with blind dates! This book has it all, snappy dialogue, sexy encounters; it's simply a wildly fun romantic romp! Lauren Blakely is The Real Deal Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read a preview of this book!

The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely is the perfect summer and beach read.
The Real Deal is a full length, standaolne, romance novel.

Meet Theo Banks. He's a bartender, professional companion for hire and all around bad boy with a soft soul. He's a good guy who was dealt bad cards in his life. He gets hired by a carefree city girl.

April Hamilton needs a boyfriend for a family reunion. She hires Theo to accompany her and these two hit it off right from the start. They have this crazy insta connection and their chemistry is through the roof high.
April is a up and coming artist, successful and carefree.
But Theo keeps secrets from April. Shameful secrets that in the end threaten to destroy their perfect relationship.

The Real Deal is a witty and fun read. The writing is great and I loved the story and the characters. I recommend The Real Deal.

As usual, Lauren Blakely hits it out of the park! What a fun, swoony, sexy read. I loved this story.

With The Real Deal, Lauren Blakely delivers a compellingly feel-good story full of humor and delicious chemistry that will make you smile and swoon.

April Hamilton loves her family and their summer reunions, she just doesn’t want to go alone to the next one because she knows everyone and their mother will try to set her up with a nice man from her home town. Even though it comes from a good place, they don’t understand her career and desire to live in the big city so when her sends her an ad link with the title “Heading Home and Need a Buffer? I’m the REAL DEAL,” she knows she found her man.

Theo Banks has a past which includes a debt. He does well as a bartender but what will get him out of trouble is his job as a fake boyfriend. But after one look at April he knows he’s in more trouble than he ever thought. He’s never been attracted to his clients, not once was he tempted to cross the kiss on the lips line, much less want more with any of them, never wished the false romantic stories to be true, until her. Could she be feeling the same? And even so, can she look beyond his past and be able to have a shot at a true love?

Theo and April’s love story will grip you from the very start. From Theo’s wacky boyfriend for hire ad, to their sexy banter and chemistry, the easy rapport between them, and the fun activities the play during their weekend together will thoroughly entertain and have you cheering for them to get their happy ending.

The Real Deal is a standalone, contemporary romance by Lauren Blakely. It is fun, flirty and sexy told from both points of view with a happy ending.

What lengths would go to to stop you family from meddling in your love life? Would you answer a "boyfriend-for-hire" ad? That is exactly what April does when her good friend get an unbelievable job in England. April is smart, fun, intelligent, and very talented artist who happens to the human body as her canvas. April is returning home for a family reunion and would prefer to not have to deal with her family (loving family) interferring with her love life. What type of person puts an ad on a website to hire out as a platonic date. That would be Theo, a man desperate to pay off a debt to keep from worrying his only family, his brother. Turns out Theo is quite talented with his voice and his ability to imitate a variety of accents. Theo and April pretend to the real deal and somehow along the way their feelings truly did turn into the "Real Deal". This newest book by Lauren Blakely is sweet, heartwarming, and a fun summer read. Theo is handsome, smart, swoon-worthy, and has a heart-of-gold. Will April forgive Theo for not telling her all the details of his past or will April pass up "The Real Deal" with Theo? To find out the answers to these questions read The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely. A great anytime read!! I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review. 5 stars*****

Lauren Blakely never disappoints and The Real Deal is another hot story from her!!

April is in need of a boyfriend for hire to keep her family off her back at a family reunion, in comes the sexy Theo to be just that for her. Only once they meet there is an instant connection (and it is HOT!) and maybe pretending to be a couple isn't the best idea.

April probably has one of the coolest jobs, she is a body painter. Her family doesn't understand what she does for a career and thinks she should easily be able to move back to her home town in Connecticut, but April doesn't want that. Theo understands this and will do anything he can to help her, to keep her happy and to protect her even though he has been through some tough stuff himself. His parents died when he was young and that left him and his older brother, Heath, to move with in with their aunt and eventually just go off on their own and trying to find a way to have a better life for themselves.

This is a beautifully written story, the growth in both the characters is fantastic and the chemistry between April and Theo is on fire. I found myself laughing at times and I found myself crying at times.

5 "Real Deal" Stars for this story!

**ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Eekk April and Theo...how effing cute are they? I will tell you.
So.effing.cute.
He can literally be anything April wants him to be. Will she want him to be the bad boy, the play boy, the nerd, or will she just want him to be himself? Y'all have to read to find out...duh! I can tell you whatever he is it's HOT! Sparks are flying, feelings are bouncing around, and dirty sexy times are happening!
This is such a cute, fun, and entertaining read.
#MatchMakers #SteamedNachos #SatisfactionGuaranteed #CupCake

Such a sweet fun read. I loved how easily these two connected. It felt like they had been a couple for years. They had easy banter but never had a moment of strange silence. The plot was great I loved the idea of paying for your date. These two started out strong and just kept the momentum going at a fast pace. The pace at which the story unfolded was perfection. I was so interested in the story I never saw the end coming. I finished the book in one sitting. With stunning characters you can't help but understand why. I look forward to reading more from Lauren in the future.

I definitely recommend! This was such a fun read. April needs a date to her family reunion and looks online to find her guy. She hires Theo as her boyfriend and their chemistry is instantaneous. I really liked how they fell into an easy and effortless friendship in the beginning of the book. Naturally as the book progresses, their relationship progresses too. I like that they were instantly interested with one another but it wasn't instalove. April was a fun character and I loved her family dynamic. It was refreshing to read about a character who was nice and likeable but not naïve. Theo was a great love interest and I really liked hearing about his backstory and his motivation for working as a boyfriend for hire. I do wish there was a little more depth there but I think that could also change the tone of the book. The family reunion reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Her well intentioned family has been trying to set her up with a local to get her to move back home and away from the city. Each person tried different tactics in matchmaking and it was a great way to be introduced to her family in the book. I came away from the book wanting more time with her family. All of the characters were great and well developed. Lauren Blakley did an awesome job of creating a fun story about love, family, and community.

**ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Real Deal was a cute and fun summer read. I enjoyed the characters and the premise of the story, though the first half was kind of slow for me. The second half I found to be much more engaging and enjoyable and I 100% loved the ending. Not my favorite Lauren Blakely book, but still a cute read!

Can this book transform into a real person so I can give it a massive hug for making me feel complete and happy? Or better yet, can someone bring Lauren Blakely all the way to Mexico so I can give her a hug for always making my heart content with her insanely amazing romances? Someone please make it happen because I desperately need to tell Lauren how much her books mean to me. In the meantime I guess this review will have to do!

Fake relationship stories are my everything. They are the love of my life. Let’s just say that if they were a person we’d be married and have a child and a dog and a white picket fence, that’s how much I love them. Are we clear on the amount of love I have for that trope? Yes. Okay. Moving on. Because I love fake relationship books so much, my expectations when it comes to them are quite big but mix that with my expectations when it comes to a book by Lauren Blakely and you have expectations the size of the sun—well, no quite but close. Of course, while I went into The Real Deal with massive expectations I was also pretty confident because I knew in my gut Lauren would give me a fantastic book and that she definitely did.

THE REAL DEAL is full of fun times, family games, flirting, slow-burn moments and charming family members. It’s a story about two quirky people who help each other out with a fake relationship. They have to pretend they are in love for a week but what started as a charade quickly transforms into a real thing.

April and Theo, our main characters, are a very unique, lovable and brilliant pair. They are both fantastic at banter. Their connection is so strong they fall hard and fast but it never feels rushed because it truly feels like they know each other. Lauren Blakely is the best at writing getting-to-know-each-other dialogues and I can promise you they will have you grinning from ear to ear and believing you can fall in love in just a few days.

Even though the story is told from both their points of view and you get to know them and understand them really well, there’s still some things about Theo that are kept in the dark until pretty much the end of the book. That just adds another layer of amazingness to the story. It makes it impossible to stop reading because Theo will steal your heart and run away with it and you will want to uncover every little piece of him.

Like always, Lauren Blakely had me feeling like I was on cloud nine the entire time I spent reading this book and I know y’all will feel the same way. This book made me smile the biggest smile the whole way through. And the ending is just to die for. Don’t you just love an ending that can give you all the feels and make you shed a tear or two from the happiness overload? Because if you do then you need to run to your closest bookstore and get your hands on this book right. about. now.

Funny, sexy, well written, great characters... there is so much to love about this story. First the whole concept of one-off acting jobs through craig's list as a date is such a modern idea and crazy yet entirely plausible. Theo is a very interesting character and I really enjoyed getting to know him and his family and their backstory. April's family on the other hand steals the show in the book. Again, her family is so over the top, yet could totally happen in real life. Between the antics and the chemistry this story is a really fun read and I recommend for anyone looking for a good summer romcom.

This book is such a departure from the usual books written by Ms. Blakely and I enjoyed it. Initially the story is about April hiring a stranger to act as her boyfriend when she goes home for a family reunion. Her family wants her to move back home to their sweet little town, fall in love and marry a local man and leave the big, bad city behind.

Theo’s ad for his services cover almost any type of interaction you can imagine with family, co-workers, friends, etc. Act as a loving and affectionate boyfriend? Check. Act obnoxious? Check. The list of choices is lengthy and quite comprehensive. Theo never crosses the line with his clients, until he meets April. They are both thinking this is a business transaction but could it be more?

Theo’s story is heart breaking and I could understand to a certain degree why he did some of the things he did to make money to live and go to college.

Once they took the train to her home town and then he met her family, participated in the reunion games, etc., I could tell he was wistful at what April had with her family. Their interactions are sweet and feelings start to feel real. Neither is looking for a relationship but that seems to be when they are most likely to happen!

I loved all of the interactions with family and how Theo seemed to fit in. Of course there are some surprises which causes a brief conflict but overall, this was fairly conflict free. This was such a sweet, funny, and sexy story with a HEA.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for allowing me the opportunity to read this early copy.

I received an eARC to read and give my honest opinion.

FUN! This is just a fun and flirty book. I have to admit I really wasn't in the mood to read this book but two steps in and I was hooked. April and Theo have great chemistry as they prepare to fool everyone at the family reunion. The only thing they're fooling is themselves as the chemistry gets hotter and hotter. For hire boyfriend plays his role a little too well as the games begin.

What did I like about the book? It was funny, and the characters just blended so well. It made you feel like you were watching their romance bloom. Love how the dad is pushing and pulling at Theo to see what kind of man is dating his little girl. April's job is really neat too. The author really throws us for a loop on the whole body painter as a real job. Unique and creative.

Would I buy this book? Yes, absolutely. I truly enjoyed it. It's a fun contemporary romance with hot chemistry between the characters. It's a cute idea and the author definitely pulled it off. Five huge stars of entertainment!

Thoughts for the author? Keep on writing... I'm not sure if this is part of a series but this was such a fun town.

I think I’ve made it clear that I am both a fan of the fake boyfriend trope and Lauren Blakely. So, when I saw a Lauren Blakely new release about a fake boyfriend on NetGalley? It felt like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. I about broke my finger 1-clicking that bad boy so fast. And I’m soooooo glad I did.

As with all her books, the banter between main characters April and Theo is all kinds of sweet and hilarious and hot. This author has a real talent for realistic, fun, flowing dialogue that very few others have. I enjoyed the hell out of every single back-and-forth between them.
This is also a rom-com that is actually FUNNY. You’d be surprised at how many books I’ve found being marketed in the rom com category that aren’t funny in the least. That kind of false advertising should be illegal. This book’s blurb calls it “Sophie Kinsella meets Jennifer Crusie”, and I can’t disagree. (And just so you know, I think Jennifer Crusie is a GODDESS, so that’s high praise)

The meddling family in this one wasn’t as annoying as meddling families can be in rom coms. The characters were all well fleshed out and interesting, and they clearly only had April’s happiness at heart, so their meddling was forgivable.

But while April was a great heroine that I can’t complain about, the real star of the book was Theo. He was smart and ridiculously hot and selfless in how he took on his brother’s burden without even being asked. He was also alpha without being a jerkwad, and the fact that he was so proud of April’s success and not at all threatened by it moved him from “good book boyfriend” territory into “all-time BEST book boyfriend” territory. Seriously. He’s THAT awesome.

Long-story-short, this is another winner from an author I adore. It’s the perfect beach read: light and fluffy, but still emotional, sexy, and sweet. It’ll give you all of the feels without breaking your heart. Can’t recommend this one highly enough.

Full disclosure: We received an ARC from NetGalley, free of charge.

Ever since reading my first Lauren Blakely book (Big Rock) a couple of years ago, she has become my favorite contemporary romance author because I can count on her to deliver the most fun and most swooniest rom-coms featuring heroes you can't help but fall in love with and heroines you want to be BFFs with. It took a little bit because of formatting issues, but this is exactly what I got from The Real Deal.

Speaking of, before I get into my actual thoughts on the book, I have to say that I had a hard time reading the e-ARC because of formatting issues. The formatting was really off, it was very distracting and I couldn't fully immerse myself into the story until I sort of trained myself to ignore it. But, yeah, that sucked.

I don't know if it's because of the formatting issues, but it wasn't until almost the halfway point that I truly got into the story. April's character I did like right away. I thought her job was really cool, I liked her group of friends, and I loved that she has a great relationship with her family even though they drove her crazy with their matchmaking efforts and they don't really understand what she does. She's not without her personal issues, but she still has this sunny and happy personality that I really like and makes me want to be her BFF.

I guess my issue was with Theo. I liked him too, but it took me a while to connect with him because I couldn't understand what his deal was. You know he has a past and he's dealing with something big because he'd reveal little pieces or clues, and you're like, uh oh this boy is in trouble. But, what kind of trouble? *Shrug*

It took me a while to figure out Theo, and I think it's safe to say he'll never be one of my favorite Lauren Blakely heroes, but I still end up liking him. It's basically impossible to not like a Lauren Blakely hero or heroine. I rooted for him and April because they were a perfect match in humor and personality. Their thing was inventing sexually charged stories about their past as their foreplay and that was different, but perfect for their situation and amped up the tension and chemistry between them. The reunion competition was really fun, and I love how Theo charmed and won over April's family even though they were determined not to like him, still hoping they can set her up with a nice hometown boy so she'll move back home.

Overall, The Real Deal was another entertaining, fun, swoon-y, and just the right amount of feels to round out another satisfying read by the queen of rom-com contemporary romance. If you're in the mood for a sexy and fun romance read, look no further than The Real Deal.

What a great book! It was full of laughter and love. I enjoyed watching Theo and April navigate their fake relationship amongst her loving but overpowering family. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a lighter read that will keep you wondering what is real and what is fake.

I am sporting a big toothy grin with a side of doopey glee. The Real Deal has a snort inducing ad for the perfect guy. Don't mock me! I'm serious. I laughed my butt off (if only) reading that ad and personally would have gone to find said stud if April hadn't.

The Real Deal is super cute with instant chemistry and off the charts storytelling. You can't help but be drawn into the story.

After reading the blurb for this book, I couldn’t wait to start this. The Real Deal has the perfect combination of laughter, some angst, romance, and fun. I enjoyed every moment of this story. The characters and the storyline were fantastic. Theo and April were great characters. I liked seeing how they grew as the story progressed-individually and together. Whenever they were together, it was always wonderful-they made sense as a couple and brought out the best in each other. What started out as just a boyfriend-for-hire gig turned into so much more. The chemistry between Theo and April was intense and seeing how they would navigate this and the onset of feelings was intriguing. I was excited to see how it would all play out. I also loved April’s family. They brought the entertainment for sure. It was the right amount of amusement to counteract the romance. Lauren always gives the best woo. The Real Deal is an awesome, swoony, and joyful read that will make you feel happy at the end.